spanish bluebells

Sometimes it’s important to tell others what God has done in our lives. You never know, maybe that person is in a similar situation, or any old situation, where someone like God would be darn useful.

So, here’s a story–really the pared down version–of what God did in my life when I had no money, no job, no home and no plan.

I was divorcing and for all the convoluted stories divorces can be, I won’t go into how this next thing happened, but it did. The ex got the house, and most of the money. I hadn’t worked in 15 years (stay-at-home mom), and was unemployed when this happened.

Here’s what I needed: a home, money to move, a job that would pay for myself and my son, and a plan. A really good plan.

The plan was the thing that bugged me the most. I believed if I could come up with a good plan, I could begin whittling away at this God-sized dilemma.

I did pray about it. A lot. But, I prayed without expecting anything. My prayers were really just my worries directed at God, which I think is how most of us pray most of the time.

One afternoon, while my son was at school, I was curled up in the bed. I was going through these mental gymnastics that were crazy. I was repeating over and over, “Think, Cinthia, think. You can come up with a plan.” After hours of this, I finally said, “Lord, I don’t have a plan. I hope you do.” It was more rhetoric than faith. Sort of like saying, “I don’t have a clue. Anybody else got one?”

Turns out he did have a plan.

I got a job at a local garden center in a town an hour and 15 minutes away. The two men that own the garden center are very godly men with a heart to help those who need it, and they helped me. They got involved personally, not just professionally, and loaned me some furniture and a box truck for moving.

Simultaneously, my son got a soccer scholarship to the university in that same small town. It was a perfect fit for him, academically and athletically.

Obviously, the town was turning out to be our new home. One day, I took a deep breath and asked customers as they shopped if they knew of any rentals. They did not. It’s a small town, mostly retirees, not a lot of rental property. Until I was locking up, and a woman asked if she could come in and browse while I closed. Turns out she was a realtor who knew of a house. She could take me there as soon as I was finished for the day. It was the perfect house for someone who had deposit money (first and last month) and a credit score that proved you would pay the rent. I had neither.

The house was one block from the university, and had a washer and dryer, my only criteria.

But, the realty agency was owned by a godly man, and he chose to help me by trusting that God would provide a way for me to pay the rent, and he waived the fees. The banker that processed a personal loan for my moving expenses was also a godly man who echoed the realtor. He smiled (he is still a friend and has a very boyish smile), and said, “God will provide a way for you to pay this back.”

In March of 2012 I had no home, no money, no job and no plan. In August of 2012, I had a home, a job and a plan.

Here’s the thing: It’s easy to say that none of this was God because I did what people do in that situation. I found a job. I found a home. I moved. I didn’t stay on that bed and wait for God to make all those things happen, (though he could have). I went looking for a job and a home. So, was it God or was it me? Shrug your shoulders to that question and move on.

It was God. Here’s why:

The small town was never even a thought to me. It is so small and so out of the way, I wouldn’t have considered it.

I wasn’t looking for a garden center job. I was looking for a professional job that paid professional money, but at 53 I discovered that wasn’t going to happen. I am both a City Planner and a horticulturist, and while I prefer working as a horticulturist, I just figured I’d have to sit through the endless meetings of a City Planner to pay the bills. To date, I am paying the bills on garden center money.

My son getting accepted and receiving a scholarship to the small university in the town I was offered a job.

The first and only house I looked at is still my home three years later, and is a block away from the university.

The godly people God put in my path who blessed me with their generosity.

God had a plan. I had no plan. I was a desperate girl in desperate times, and God showed me the way.

If you’re still not convinced, here’s one more thing: I left behind a 20-year-old garden. It was a cottage garden, full of beautiful perennials. One of my favorites was a spring blooming bulb called Spanish bluebells. As Spring of 2013 came I noticed my new yard had a million of “something” coming up in it. Friends asked what that plant was. I didn’t know, but truly, I hadn’t looked at them. I was busy working and frankly, it still hadn’t completely occurred to me that God was orchestrating this life I was now leading.

One morning I woke up remembering the Spanish bluebells at South Turkey Creek. This would be the first spring in 20+ years that I would miss them. I said, “Lord, the bluebells. I won’t see them this year.” Disappointed and missing my garden, I got ready for work and walked out my front door. Over night that plant had bloomed. Turns out the former owner of my little house loved Spanish bluebells, too. There were millions of them, literally everywhere–every bed, every corner, along the street, along the fence, against the house, among the shrubs–everywhere, erect, blue and showing off.

God not only had a plan, he remembered that I loved Spanish bluebells and placed me in a home that had an abundance of them. He’s like that. When he makes a plan, he attends to every detail.